User Reviews

"Twinning" takes twelve sets of twins and pits them against each other in a winner-take-all competition for a $222,222.22 prize. The host is Angie Greenup.

The twins are secluded in a house during the show. Sounds like "Big Brother", right? But the first episode reveals the first twist: the twins must live on opposite sides of the house. Yes, there is a "blue house" and a "green house" and the twins are separated from each other. It's an unexpected reality that immediately shows the difference between twins and other siblings. Not only are these twins co-dependent, they are "twindependent", a term that describes one aspect of their unique relationships--their remarkable bonds. Some of these pairs have never been apart for more than a day or two in their lives. In effect, separation puts the pairs under duress, which might explain why life in the houses feels more like "Real World" than "Big Brother". Conflicts and fights arise and emotions run high.

But that is not the reason I really enjoy this show. It is because it explores (and exploits) the amazing bond between identical twins. These twinsets are very diverse. You have Ukrainian sisters, Long Island princesses, stocky virginal brothers, etc. But each set of twins is very close.

In each episode, the teams compete against each other in challenges, separated from their twins by a wall. The competitions are ingenious, always requiring teamwork for success. The winning teams are allowed to spend a day in both sides of the house--the ultimate reward for two twins that long to be with their other halves. They also get to nominate the teams that must compete to remain in the house.

The two nominated twin teams go head to head in a "Twin Off", where they must exactly match their twin's answers to various questions, like "If you could go back to any year, what year would you choose?" They often channel each other's thoughts with a spooky consistency. They also have common behavioral traits and clothing choices. (But the show also exposes the differences in the twins, which are just as interesting as the commonalities). The losing team must leave the house.

Like most reality games, their are social strategies and competitive strategies. You can expect flirting, deception, unlikely friendships, and strategic alliances.

When I first started this show, I was in love. I loved the idea of 12 sets of twins competing together in pairs. I loved how those twins would be split up for the entirety of the competition by living in two separate houses and playing in competitions on either side of a massive wall. I even loved that the grand prize was made $222,222.22 to fit in with the theme of the show. However once the show kicked off, it imploded on itself due to its lack of structure, repetitive and boring competitions, and pointless drama and fights. It was difficult to get invested in the show when it didn't enforce its own rules, almost letting the contestants do whatever they wanted to with minimal consequences. The format of the show also didn't allow for much strategy, which resulted in nearly every fight being completely pointless and irrelevant in the scope of the show. As a result, you could cut out many of the fights from each episode and it wouldn't affect the overall plot of the show. On the other hand, casting did a great job. There was a lot of variety not only in personalities among the contestants, but also in how close each pair was. Unfortunately the cast was wasted on this garbage heap of a show.